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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Very Merry Foodie Christmas!!

The day after Christmas. wow. It is now the day after Christmas and I am sitting on my couch in PJ's and I have no desire to move from my current state. Except to maybe get some more food. Now, while I am cozy and sitting let me tell you a bit about my Christmas day.

My amazing husband and my awesome gifts

My Mother in Law waited 3 hours in line to get this for us!

And for a special sneak peak into what I ate on Christmas Eve and day I have added a photo montage of every amazing morsel I ate!

For Christmas Day, I was tasked with making amazing appetizers. I decided to do some new recipes this year since I have a blog and all. I decided to make sparkling cranberry and brie bites, which I adapted from The Yummy Mummy Blog. I was super excited about these because I love cranberries and the pairing with the brie is a delicious combo. My brother in law said it right when he said," There are so many flavors and textures." The sweetness of the sugar,tartness of the cranberries,creaminess of the brie, and freshness of the mint.Together it is like some sort of amazing flavor explosion in your mouth. I say I adapted this recipe becauuse I forgot the cranberry relish. So Don't worry, if you forget the cranberry relish also you will be all set because these were amazing without it. These are also great to make for a party because you do everything the night before and just set them up tomorrow. Super easy!

Rinse cranberries and place in a medium bowl. Heat syrup in a small sauce pan just until warm. Pour over cranberries when syrup is warm, not hot, or cranberries may pop. Cool, cover, and let steep overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander. Place sugar in a large bowl or baking dish. Add cranberries in 2 batches and roll around until lightly coated in sugar. Place on a baking sheet until dry, about 1 hour.

Assemble crackers with one slice of brie, a light layer of cranberry chutney, and 4 or 5 sugared cranberries. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs.

I put the crackers and brie in the microwave for 10 seconds just so the brie melts a bit. Then add cranberries and mint.

I got so many cooking and blog themed gifts this year. I got numerous aprons that I can be a snazzy cook in, some blogging books, a new knife set, a truffle making class, a AUTOGRAPHED Bobby Flay Cookbook, and even 6 months of online culinary school! I know. My family is so good to me. I will have so much awesome new topics to talk about and new dishes etc to use!I also bought myself a new lighting "thing-a-ma-jigger" that way I can light my photos better. Yey for better photos on my blog! Here is a photo I took of lots of cooking gifts I got this year.